Taking part in governance is a demand on people’s time and attention. The more that online spaces become self-governable, the more that such demands will grow. Be careful about overwhelming participants with information or expectations. Practice reciprocity: Match what the community asks of them with what it provides. In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide financial compensation or training for governance work. Assume that participants are involved in governance elsewhere as well and have time-constrained lives, and provide APIs where appropriate to support cross-platform integrations. Decision-making algorithms may be indispensable for navigating information overload, but they must be employed with care; they can be powerful tools for guiding our attention, but they can also distract, obfuscate and degrade our agency. Build not just for your own community’s self-governance, but for the future we hope for—a world of more fully self-governed lives.

Provide resources necessary to support participation 🙌